Russian prime minister Vladmimir Putin has said that if Ukraine does not pay February gas bills by March 7 supplies to that country and the rest of Europe could be cut.

"If this payment is not made […] it will lead to a suspension of the supply of our fuel both to consumers in Ukraine and to our consumers in Europe,” said PM Putin, Thursday. "We are pointing that out to the European Commission and all our consumers in Europe."

Ukrainian’s Naftogaz said Thursday afternoon, however, that it had paid the outstanding sum: "Payment to Gazprom has been completed," Naftogaz spokesman Valentyn Zemlyanski said, quoted by Reuters.

In January this year central and eastern Europe, including Poland, experienced cuts in gas supply after Gazprom turned off the taps to Ukraine during a trade dispute over unpaid bills. Many parts of eastern Europe had no gas at all during the colder than average winter.  

The situation was never acute in Poland as it receives the majority of its Russian gas via Belarus, not Ukraine. (pg)